Monday, May 16, 2011

Guys, moving is hard. Everyone else in the world knows that but I didn't. I didn't, because every other time I've moved in my life, I've had a few suitcases of possessions and not much else. Now, however, I am a Grownup, who is in a Relationship, and who has Lived in the Same Place for 3.5 Years. This means that while the packing could (and did) happen haphazardly, the unpacking can't, because then you wind up not knowing where anything is. And that is the situation I'm in now. A week after moving we finally uncovered our silverware. Hurrah! And yesterday Mike found all my jewelry in a bag of hangers, after I had thought it was lost forever.

On the upside, we are completely out of our old apartment, and it is spackled and sparkling. Seeing it all empty made me remember how in love with it we were when we first moved in - much like, I imagine, you might look back on a relationship you were walking away from. It had to happen, but you're still a little sad it's over, given how excited you were at the beginning. See, the beautiful bay windows?

So now we turn our attention once again to the new place. Aside from hunting down missing possessions, many many things have been done around the new apartment. As previously stated, there was much painting. Also furniture assembly, cupboard organization, huge-rubber-tub stuffing, and lightbulb replacing. Things are starting to come together, as evidenced by my Sunday afternoon spent reading on the porch with a cat of unknown origin. He is called Big Boy by the others in our building, and he lives in our backyard during the day. At night, no one knows.

Moving is not all that I have been up to, of course, as evidenced by all the laundry hanging in the picture above. I biked to work again for Bike to Work Day - it was the 4th time, and my fastest, but also a bit dull. Maybe next year I'll take the longer hilly route.

That weekend we went up to Anderson Valley for the Boonville Beer Festival, which was, as expected, a great time. I have lots of pictures, but haven't had time to go through them yet, so they'll have to be for another post. Right now I'm in NYC after a weekend at my parents' agrarian dreamland, where we rode horses and walked through the hills and drank and ate too much. So clearly I have some blog catchup to do.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Someone created a Facebook group for people who have worked at Yellowstone National Park over the years, and it's amazing. I was there for the summer of 2003, pre-Facebook, and so all my friends are just starting to reconnect. Heading out to Wyoming in my crappy little car was one of the best decisions I ever made, and it looks like others agree. My favorite wall post so far: "Canyon Lodge '85. The summer a buffalo got stuck in the post office for a day or two and we couldn't get mail!"

Monday, May 9, 2011

That is how my back feels right now. But it was worth it, because this weekend we moved into our new apartment! I took Friday off work for some Home Depot-ing with my mom, who had flown in to help. We painted the ugly putty-colored kitchen a nice light grey, and avoided killing ourselves on the ladder.

Saturday we - along with our amazing friends - hauled the freakishly numerous contents of our old place into the creaky, beautiful, closet-less glory of our new place. Then we took everyone out for Indian to celebrate. Before going to bed, Mike and I sat on our porch and realized that in San Francisco you just don't sit outside at night very often - it's too chilly. Our porch is protected by a wall of windows, though, and with a wool blanket on my lap, it was heaven. The trees made some very soothing noises.

The house, however, made some super weird noises overnight. I'm not used to such silence, or darkness - our old place had a curtain-penetrating streetlamp right outside our bedroom windows, and living on a busy street meant constant noise. I got very used to it, apparently, because I spent a decent portion of Saturday night panicking when the cats stepped on creaky floorboards or knocked over precariously piled boxes. The cats, I should note, were also freaking out.

Sunday was Mother's Day, and we celebrated by painting even more - the bathroom, this time, in a very bright light blue. It's a bit much, but you know what? It's a bathroom, and it was a pain in the a$$ to paint, so it's staying how it is. Oh! And also! I woke up Sunday morning to TWO tickets on my car - the first night I've parked on the street in 3.5 years. Thank you, city of San Francisco, for being an epic jerk. I cried a little bit, I admit it. On the upside, I was simultaneously comforted by my boyfriend and my mom, which I highly recommend next time you are upset. If you do not have reliable access to a significant other and a mom, I am happy to offer mine.

We capped off our manual labors with drinks at the Cliff House at sunset, which I hope slightly made it up to my mom, who in total spent four days working very hard to help me and my poor apartment. Pictures to come!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Well, not my best friend, but lots of other people's. Actually, my best friend growing up did take Arabic classes, but her Bangladeshi mother and her Methodist minister dad raised her Christian. So, maybe, My Best Friend was Sort of Muslim?

Anyway, that site is pretty heartwarming, and I now have a new imaginary best friend. His name is Najam, and he sounds delightful, in an Oscar Wao kind of way. Enjoy.

I have been in a little bit of a funk lately. Not a bad funk, but definitely a funk. You know what I mean? When I'm not actively happy or excited, I slip into being dissatisfied or anxious. This is not my natural state, and I'm ready to move on out of it. I am blaming most of it on my insanely long and annoying to-do list, which is chock full o' shitty tasks for our upcoming move. There is so much crap associated with being a grownup. Can I get an amen?

Last time I moved it was cross country, from Boston to San Francisco. I brought three suitcases (thank you, Southwest) full of artwork bundled up in my clothes. My parents shipped a box or two of books, and that was it. I was free as a bird on the wing! Now I own so. much. stuff. And it's not like I buy crap just for the sake of having it (well, maybe pretty dresses that have no place in the Northern California climate) - it's all the kind of things you need to run a household, like plates and mugs and electronics and curtain rods and chairs and oh my god this list could go on forever.

However. It will get done, the move will happen, and my mom is here to help. That woman can pack like nobody's business - watching her fill a moving van is like watching a master play Tetris, only with more cursing.

And once we've moved, I get to take on the task of prettying up what is a lovely but outdated apartment. New linoleum floors, new light fixtures, covering of the kitchen cabinets, and god only knows what else. Will this pull me out of my funk, or drag me deeper into it? Let's take bets!